Vietnamese Grilled Lemongrass Pork Chops with Broken Rice (Cơm Tấm Sườn Nướng)

Step 1

Place the hot water and sugar in a jar and stir until sugar dissolve. Add the rest of the ingredients. Let it cool and then store in a jar container in the refrigerator. It will keep for about a week

Step 2

Remove the tough outer layer from the lemongrass and the woody part on the top. You can manually chop it into fine pieces or cut it into smaller pieces and then put them in a food processor along with the garlic to finely chop them

Step 3

Make a few small cuts, about 1/2-inch deep, around the edges of each pork chops. The pork chop won't curl on the edge when you cook it

Step 4

Place all the ingredients for marinade in a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the pork chop pieces in there and rub the marinade on the chops to make sure they are evenly coated. Cover and let them marinade for at least 4 hours in the fridge or overnight if possible for maximum flavor

Step 5

Remove the pork chops from the fridge one hour before you plan to grill them to let them come to a room temperature

Step 6

It's best to do this during Summer time when you have enough ventilation when you grill inside the house. Preheat your grill pan or cast iron pan on high heat until they are really hot. Add some oil

Step 7

Depending on how big your pan is, put about 2 chops on the pan, without touching each other. Don't overcrowd the pan. Let them sear for a minute and then lower the heat to medium and let it cook for another 1-2 minutes on one side for boneless, about 3 minutes for bone-in, flip over and cook again for another 1-2 minutes for boneless and about 3-4 minutes for bone-in, depending on how thick the pork chops are. An instant-read thermometer should register about 145 F (63 C) on the thickest part of the chops

Step 8

Remove from the pan and let them sit on a large plate, loosely covered with a foil. Let them rest for 5 minutes before serving. You don't want to lose all the juice

Step 9

Preheat the outdoor gas grill on high (450 F). Make sure the grates are all clean. Place the chops at the hottest side of the grill, cover and grill for about 3 minutes. Open the grill and flip over, cover and grill for another minute and then flip again and cook until an instant-read thermometer register at least 145 F (63 C).

Step 10

Serve the pork chop with white rice or broken rice, lettuce, slices of cucumbers, slices of tomatoes, one fried egg per serving if you choose to do so, and nuoc cham sauce